Chance Encounter
by KatyMM
Summary: It's hard to work out who the good guys are sometimes.
1. Chapter 1

What would it be like to be a victim in SN land

What would it be like to be a victim in SN land? How do you know who the good guys are when you've been kidnapped by the very people who say they are trying to save you?

This would be set in Season 2, before the deal.

The incessant pounding of my head was what I had the misfortune to wake to. I followed that up by attempting to move. Nausea rose immediately and my body went into autopilot, rolling sideways as my stomach and throat spasmed in an unholy waltz and discharged what was left of my last meal.

'Whoa!"

A hand was at the back of my head then and something cold and plastic was pressed against my mouth. I heaved until nothing was left. Tears tracked sideways down my face and into my hair, mingling with the vomit.

'Hey, take it easy. Dean get some water!'

'Already on it – here.'

The hand that had been supporting my head withdrew as I rolled back.

'Can you open your eyes Miss?'

No. There was no question of that happening. Blackness was good.

- - -

'… got concussion.'

'Well what do you want to do Sam?'

'She needs proper medical attention.'

'Until we know what tried to grab her outta that hotel room, she's safer with us.'

My eyes cracked open at that! I say cracked, because there was this crusty stuff gluing my eyelids together. So it kinda hurt when I finally managed to pry them apart.

I heard this weird noise and it took me a while to realise it was me making it. It was a sort of groaning sound. Oh, and there was the rolling stomach again!

'She's gonna hurl again! Get the bucket!'

There was that hand again and there was me dry-heaving nothing much at all, just spittle and bile that kinda dribbled out of my mouth. And the pain in my head was pretty much unbearable, not that I seemed to have much choice in whether to bear it or not.

Then I started shaking. My whole body was quaking non-stop as though I was freezing. Except I wasn't cold at all. I hadn't realised that my eyes were again squeezed tightly shut until I opened them – just a little. Light filtered in amidst the shadows, all very indistinct and blurred. Something dark blanked out all the light then and I made another strange noise and tried to get away from it. The throbbing in my head was superseded by the pounding in my chest. My heart was literally desperate to vacate my chest as it hammered against my ribcage in sheer terror. Blackness.

--

'Hey, I think she's coming around again.'

As my vision swam slowly back into focus, a face loomed in at me. I shrank back from it.

'Oh hey, don't be scared! I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Sam and this is my brother Dean.' He turned his head and I followed his gaze, very slowly, to the second man in the room.

_Oh god I've been roofied! No! This isn't me, I'm not here… not happening, not happening…. dreaming… I'm dreaming. Hand on my shoulder! NO!! _

'Get off me!!'

The hand left my shoulder and the bed dipped as the guy got up.

'Dean, she's really out of it!'

'Dude, I don't think she's, you know - all _there_.'

'Well jeez Dean, she's just woken up in a strange room with two men she never met AND she probably has concussion. How about we give her a break before having her committed?'

'Hey, you're the one who was all for taking her to hospital a few hours ago!'

'All I'm saying is, try putting yourself in her place…'

'Are you kidding me? You're the girl Sam; _you_ can wear the girly shoes!'

'Fine! _You_ can go and get some stuff for her then.'

'What stuff?'

'She's a girl Dean, she needs… girl stuff, clothes and ... stuff that girls have… need…Stuff!.'

I found myself listening to all this, petrified the whole time, but even with all that, I couldn't help but think it was an odd conversation.

I cringed when the really tall one knelt down by the side of the bed.

'I promise you, we are only here to help you. We are not going to hurt you. Can you tell me your name?'

I thought about this and after a while, when nothing came to me, I said 'No.' in a voice so quiet I could hardly hear it myself.

'Do you remember I told you my name is Sam?'

'Yes.'

'Do you remember his name?' He nodded to the other guy.

'Dean?'

'Hey, maybe she isn't buckets o' crazy after all!'

'Dean! Shut up!'

'Oh nice job there Sammy! Shouting is really gonna put her at ease!'

'But you can't tell me your own name?'

I started to shake my head but instantly stopped as everything started spinning and the pain in my head erupted again.

'Well I'm starving. I'll bring back two salads for you ladies.'

The tall one called Sam stood up and walked to the door. He kept his voice down but I could still hear what they were saying.

'Dean if you aren't gonna pick up the things she needs, then I will. We can't get anywhere near her hotel room so she's gonna need a few things till we can fix this problem - whatever it is.'

'Dude! You want me to stay with her?'

'Yes Dean, that's what I want you to do. Can you manage that small task or do I have to call Bobby to protect you from the scary concussed lady?'

'Shut up!'

'Alright, I'll be back as soon as I can. Try not to say anything stupid okay? She's freaked out enough already.'

'How did you get this annoying?'

'Hey, I learned from the best!'

The really tall one left and now it was me and this other one, who was actually plenty tall too.

He shut the door and looked across the room at me, but mercifully he didn't come near me. My heart was still demanding immediate exit from my body though.

He pulled a chair out from under a side table and the noise of it scraping across the floor had me jumping out of my skin.

'Sorry.'

He sat down. He was about as far away as he could be, without actually being outside the room. For a moment I thought he was more scared of me than I was of him.

'You know - what Sam said? He's not lying. Actually he never lies; and he's the biggest geek boy you ever met.'

'What do you want with me?'

He looked straight at me then, and even from all the way across the room, it seemed like he really wanted me to believe him.

'We want to protect you from whatever it was that hurt you.'

'_You_ hurt me. _You_ brought me here.'


	2. Chapter 2

'You hurt me

'_You_ hurt me. _You_ brought me here.'

He stood up from the chair then.

I flinched.

He sat back down. Running a hand through his hair, he looked at me again.

'No, that's not what happened.'

My head was pounding and throbbing so much at this point, I seriously thought it was gagging time again, and he must have seen something in my expression because he was half way to the bucket.

'No!' I squeaked out. He stopped dead in his tracks.

'Are you gonna be sick?'

I thought about it and after a few deep breaths and concentrated swallowing, I decided barfing was, at least temporarily, off the agenda.

'No.'

'What a relief.'

There was a silence in the room then. One of those long, drawn-out silences that in normal conversation, is usually broken by someone making a desperately bad joke out of sheer embarrassment.

I looked at the ceiling, wondering what the hell had they drugged me with that I couldn't even remember my own name.

He looked out of the window.

I jolted a bit when he finally spoke.

'Look lady, I get it. You think we're the bad guys. You don't trust me or my brother. And you sure as hell don't want me near you. So if you need something you gotta ask. Deal?'

'Aspirin.'

'What?'

'Head's killing me.'

'Right! _That_ I can do!'

Moments later a couple of pills were placed on the table next to my bed and next to the glass of water I hadn't drunk earlier. The guy called Dean sat on the bed opposite the one I was lying on.

I did my best to reach towards the table, but my arm waved around uselessly and only his quick reaction prevented me knocking the glass over.

'Come on, just let me help you take the Aspirin, okay?'

'How do I know they're headache pills?'

'Well here, look, it says Aspirin on the pills.'

I looked at the pill held in his hand and it did indeed seem to be an innocent Aspirin. And to be honest, I was so tired, and my head hurt so much, I had almost given up caring. So I didn't even protest when an arm wrapped around my shoulders and pulled me up till I was sitting upright on the bed. With his other hand he put a couple of pills into my palm and moved my hand up to my mouth. The pills stuck to my tongue so it was a relief when he held the glass of water to my lips and tipped the glass up. I swallowed and the pills dislodged themselves down my throat.

'Any chance you could tell me your name?'

'No.' I whispered.

'Why not?'

'Don't know what it is.'

Tears slipping down my cheeks, I settled back into unconsciousness. It didn't seem like much time had passed when I felt tapping on the side of my face and my eyes snapped open. Dean was looming over me and I hitched a breath in shock. He backed away from the bed immediately, both hands up – palms facing me.

'Sorry, but you need to wake up.'

My inner whiny toddler emerged then. 'No – tired.'

'Yep, I get that, but it's tough. I need to wake you up every hour.'

'Why?' Yep, definitely whining.

'Because you probably have concussion.'

'So what – and why do I have concussion anyway?'

Dean sat down on the other bed, palms pressed to his thighs.

'Something whacked you on the head and maybe tried to kidnap you from your hotel room.'

'Yeah, you.'

He sighed.

'Look, when we arrived you were already passed out on the floor and whatever it was, had smashed out through the window.'

It was then it struck me. He kept saying "it" not "he".

'What do you mean "it"? Why didn't you call the police and an ambulance?'

He ran a hand through his hair then – apparently exasperated at my perfectly reasonable questions.

Elbows on knees and hands clasped together in front of his chin, he started saying words, but I stopped listening almost immediately, because what he was saying made no sense. It just convinced me he was some kind of lunatic, along with his brother. After a short while he realised I wasn't listening.

'You don't believe me.'

'Of course not. I'm not an idiot!'

'How do you know?'

'Know what?'

'If you're an idiot or not?'

I gave that some thought. I couldn't remember who I was, but I didn't _feel _like an idiot, but then again, who does? As if reading my mind, he spoke again.

'Can you remember anything at all? Why you were at the hotel maybe?'

I tried to summon up "anything at all", but it was just a void where my memories should be. My short term memory was working and I knew what things were called – beds, chairs, rooms, Dean, Sam, _kidnap_!. The effort had my head pounding again and I must have turned green because Dean had the bucket up next to me in seconds flat and the water I had recently drunk made a rapid reappearance. When the heaving had stopped he held out a damp cloth, trying to keep his distance. Trouble was, I was too weak to take the cloth or do anything with it and just stared at him. I must have made a pretty sorry spectacle with my matted, vomit flecked hair and tear-streaked face.

'Do you want me to help clean you up a bit?'

'I… I don't know.' Truth was, I was terrified out of my wits and didn't know what to make of any of this, and my head hurt so much and I was tired and…

Dean sat by me and started to dab at my face. I pulled away at first, but he sort of shushed me and I just gave in and let him clean me up. I had to admit the cool cloth felt good on my face and he seemed to be doing his best to be gentle. Not bad for a homicidal maniac at any rate.

The door opened and I jumped a little – guess my nerves were shot. It was Sam, carrying some packages.

'Well Florence, seems like you actually managed to keep things under control for once.'

'Bite me.' Dean turned his attention to my revolting hair and decided he needed to rinse out the cloth before tackling it. He seemed to know all about this kind of stuff. Which didn't strike me as a good thing.

Sam deposited the packages on the other bed and sat down next to them.

'How are you feeling? Any better?'

'Please let me go.'

'Did you remember who you are?' He sounded hopeful, but frowned slightly when I foolishly shook my head. The room spun and I was glad not to be standing up as I suspect it wouldn't have been for long.

He leaned forward but didn't touch me as he asked if I was alright. For nutters they were really quite considerate. Dean came back with a bowl of warm water and the cloth and started to clean up my hair as best he could. I noticed Sam smirking at him but he said nothing, just started opening the parcels he had arrived with. He pulled out some grey sweat pants and a matching jersey.

'I got you some things since everything you own is at the hotel. Your room is under guard because the police think you've been kidnapped.'

'I have.'

'Okay, I know that's how it looks, but this is the only way we can keep you safe until we know what attacked you.'

'Not you too.'

'What do you mean?'

'She thinks we're psychos Sammy.'

'You told her?'

'Tried to. She doesn't believe it though.'

'Well I guess it's pretty unbelievable.'

Dean had mopped up as much of the mess from my hair as he could and left to take the bowl and cloth back to the bathroom.

Sam sat on the other bed and looked at me with a very sincere looking expression on his face. Really, very convincing. It was a pity about the cock and bull story.

'Have either of us tried to hurt you since you woke up?'

'No.'

'Doesn't that prove anything?'

'Not really.'

'I swear you're as stubborn as Dean! Well we'll just go on looking after you and as soon as it's safe we'll take you wherever you want to go. Meanwhile, it shouldn't be too hard to find out your name from the hotel register. I'll get on that now. Maybe knowing your name will jog the rest of your memory.'

He put the packages on the bed. 'I had to guess your size, so sorry if it doesn't all fit too well. And I got you some stuff from the drug store so you can brush your teeth and clean up when you feel up to it.'

Curiosity got the better of me (c'mon I'm a girl!) and I started opening the packages. It seemed Sam had thought of everything. There was even underwear and pyjamas in there, all very basic stuff in white and grey cotton, but very welcome since I had nothing else with me. The toiletries included shampoo and shower gel and even cleanser and moisturiser. Clearly I wasn't the first woman he had kidnapped. He caught me staring at him as I had that thought, and I guess my expression was a bit grim.

'Did I forget something?'

'This isn't the first time, is it!' I blurted out.

'What?' The puzzlement crinkling his forehead, turned to a deep frown as it dawned on him what I meant.

'Oh, of course! I'm a vicious serial kidnapper - I forgot. Terrific. Thanks for that.'

He launched himself out of his chair and into the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him.

Call it concussion; call it feminine intuition but there seemed to be some tension in the air. I turned my gaze from the bathroom door to Dean.

And then I was really scared.


	3. Chapter 3

He came towards me with clenched fists and a pretty murderous expression on his face

A/N I have changed the rating to reflect the language.

--

He came towards me with clenched fists and a pretty murderous expression on his face. Muscles were working under the skin of his jaw and corded on his neck and those hard-looking fists kept curling and uncurling and I knew I had said the wrong thing – pushed the wrong button. _Shit! I'm gonna die because I couldn't keep my mouth shut! I'm gonna die and I don't even know my name or if anyone will miss me when I'm gone! Holy fucking crap – he's gonna kill me!_

'He's good.'

Hunched up in a foetal ball, waiting for the inevitable, I guess I didn't quite hear him.

'W what?'

'My brother is good. He's a good person.' His voice was really low, almost like he didn't want Sam to hear, even through the bathroom door.

Dean was sitting on my bed, with his back to me. I started laughing – couldn't seem to stop – didn't know what I was laughing about, and tears streamed down my face at the same time.

After a while, Dean asked if I was okay and I laughed hysterically again as he handed me the Kleenex box.

'I ttho.. I thought…'

'What?'

'I thought you were going to.. uh.. ' I couldn't get the words out. Gulping, crying and laughing, I was pretty sure I had lost what was left of my mind.

'Whoa! You didn't think I was going to hurt you?'

And what was I supposed to say or think about that? These guys had kidnapped me and hit me over the head and maybe drugged me too. Mind you, as far as I could tell, they hadn't molested me. But I'd need an even harder knock to the head before I'd buy this ludicrous story about some creature attacking me.

'Good people don't kidnap women from hotel rooms.' Damn! Would I ever learn to shut my mouth? Maybe I really am an idiot.

'For the love of…'

I was curling up again.

He noticed.

'Okay, we're just going around in circles here. Sam and me? We're the good guys, even though you don't get it. We don't go around hurting people.'

Sam came out then and went back to the desk, opening up a laptop. After a moment he turned in the chair and faced me.

I watched as a look shot between them. Then Sam turned towards me.

'Look, the reason I knew what to get for you is because I used to live with my girlfriend. Okay?'

'Where is she now – did you guys split up?' And there it was again! I was about ready to smack some sense into myself, since; bizarrely, my abductors appeared reluctant to hurt me.

'She died.'

And you see, that wasn't an answer that really put my mind at rest. I was thinking maybe I should stop asking questions. So far I wasn't liking any of the answers I was getting. And from the look on Sam's face, I had a strong feeling that his girlfriend hadn't died of natural causes.

Something else was niggling at me too. I needed the bathroom. I decided to take things slowly and moved my right leg towards the edge of the bed on the side nearest the bathroom. That didn't go too badly and I soon had my right foot on the floor. Next I moved my left leg over the side and had to sort of shuffle forwards. Now the awkward bit. I pushed up off the bed, shifting my weight onto my legs as I straightened up. Of course it turned out my legs and head had no intention of behaving and everything tilted as I headed south. A hand got to my head before it hit the floor and then, alarmingly, I was being picked up. It was Dean. I struggled of course, but it was more of a token gesture given the firm grip he had on me.

'Me Tarzan – You Jane Doe!' He grinned at me.

'What?'

'Nothin, sorry. Do you need the bathroom?'

'Um, yeah but…'

'Don't worry, I have no intention of following you in there. And even if it is absolutely necessary, I will send my sister here in – right Sis?' He craned his neck towards Sam.

'Yeah, whatever.'

He carried me the few steps to the bathroom, toeing the door open and then left me sitting on the edge of the bath and shut the door behind him. Seconds later I hadn't moved, what with the room spinning crazily around me, when there was a knock on the door.

'Yeah?'

'Are you decent? I've got your toothbrush and stuff for you.'

'Oh, okay, thanks and yes, I am.'

Sitting, swaying slightly, on the edge of a strange bathroom in a strange motel room, I could hardly believe the politeness of that exchange – like I was a treasured guest or something! God if I could just remember who I was and get the hell out of this nightmare!

The door opened slightly and an arm snaked through the gap to deposit the items on the shelf above the basin. As the door closed he said to give him a call when I was done and he would help me back to the bed. Amazing! I seemed to have been kidnapped by the kindest kidnappers ever_! What the hell is going on? _

My original plan had been to get back to the bed under my own steam; it was scary (and kinda embarrassing) being carried around like a baby after all. But by the time I was ready, I knew there was no way that was going to happen. So, sitting on the toilet lid, I pulled open the door and peered through to the other room. Dean was lying on the bed nearest the door and Sam had his back to me, hunched over the laptop. Dean spotted me and immediately came over.

'Well Jenny, wanna walk and lean on me or shall I carry you?'

'Jenny?'

'Yup, you're Jenny Schrader from Wisconsin – ring any bells?'

He'd actually picked me up without waiting for an answer on the subject and now gently laid me on the bed while I digested the information about myself. I had to admit it did sound very familiar and, well, _comfortable _I guess.

Sam was looking at me now, with a kind of wounded expression that was making me feel a bit guilty for some reason.

'Do you know anything else about me?'

He turned back to the laptop and read from the screen.

'You were booked into the Meridian hotel for one night. You drive a Toyota Camry. You have a sister and a brother, both younger. Your parents live in Wisconsin.'

'Hm.'

'Have you remembered anything?'

Both sets of hazel eyes regarded me expectantly.

'I think I am moving.'

'Huh?'

'I think I got a new job and I'm driving to my new home with all my stuff – um, New Jersey!' I felt a little glow of triumph at this bit of memory retrieval.

Dean grinned.

'Well alright! Now we're getting somewhere! Can you remember your hotel room?'

'Well you know, there was a bed and TV and cupboard. They all kinda look the same really.'

'That's not really what I meant.'

'Leave it Dean, let her remember in her own time.'

And I was grateful for that, as my head was again pounding mercilessly. Having thrown up the Aspirin with the water, there was nothing in my system to ease the pain.

'Any chance of another couple of Aspirin?'

'I think you need some food in your stomach first Jenny.'

'Not feeling very hungry.'

'I got some soup while I was out. How about I heat it up and you can just try a little bit?'

The thought of it was causing a potential rebellion by the little guys stomping around in my stomach, but I agreed to try. Moments later my senses were assailed by an unidentified savoury smell which did nothing to quell the uprising. However, since it seemed there would be no more Aspirin forthcoming until I tried it, I pulled myself upright on the bed and hesitantly reached for the bowl. Sensing impending disaster, Sam grabbed it and sat down next to me on the bed.

'I think maybe I should help you.'

'What? No I can do it!'

He held the bowl right in front of me and I picked up the spoon and carefully slid the bottom of it across the lip of the bowl to get rid of any drips then started to transport the spoon to my mouth. I didn't get very far at all before my arm started shaking from the exertion and hot soup spilled onto my thigh, soaking through the denim of my jeans. Sam handed me a Kleenex and I dabbed at the damp patch.

'Okay, now can I help you?'

'I guess so. Kinda embarrassing though.'

'I know, but you just need to get some more rest and you'll be fine. Now, open up!' He grinned at me – he definitely seemed to be enjoying this! (And truth be told, I definitely preferred these guys smiling at me than frowning!)

So I finally got some soup and actually it wasn't' too bad – cream of chicken I noticed. Apparently I am not a vegetarian. I managed to get through half the bowl before the leader of the rebellion in my stomach informed me it was done.

'Okay, that's not bad. Still want the Aspirin?'

'Yes please.'

He popped them into my palm and handed me the glass, poised to grab it if it looked like I was going to drop it. But I managed to down the pills and swallow enough water to wash them down. Hopefully everything would stay down this time.

'Why don't you lie back and get some rest?'

I didn't need asking twice. Although as soon as I closed my eyes my mind was bombarded with an endless slideshow of images of people and places and things. I guess my memory was coming back with a vengeance! It was all a bit disconcerting but after a while it slowed down and eventually I slept.

I don't know how long I was asleep but when I woke again, it was starting to get dark. Dean and Sam were deep in muted conversation, hunched over the laptop, and both with their backs to me. As they had shown me nothing but kindness and consideration, my fear about their motives had reduced considerably but the fact was, they were still keeping me here against my will. Now that I knew who I was, I also knew that my family would be desperate to know that I was okay.

As soon as I shifted on the bed, both heads turned towards me.

'Hey Jenny, how d'ya feel?'

My head felt better, though I realised as I sat up, that sudden movement still made me completely dizzy. I waited for the room to stop spinning before replying.

'When are you going to let me go?'


	4. Chapter 4

They both came and sat opposite me on the other bed

They both came and sat opposite me on the other bed. Sam spoke.

"Look Jenny, I know this must be really frightening and disorientating for you, and I'm really sorry about that. But if we let you walk out that door right now, we won't be able to protect you properly"

Sam was virtually begging me to understand, but how could I? As long as he and Dean were talking about evil, paranormal creatures, there was just no way I could believe them, however sincere they sounded. It was such a shame, they really seemed like decent guys, but they were completely delusional!

Dean broke into my little reverie.

"Jenny can't you remember anything from the hotel room? Didn't you see anything or anyone?"

"Oh, my memory is back! I was in my room, hanging some things in the closet, and everything went black. When I woke up I was here. See? No monsters, just you guys."

"So that's a bust! How are we gonna track this thing down when we have no clue what it is?"

So, they were back to the insanity! Meanwhile how on earth was I going to get out of this mess? Scanning the room properly for the first time I noticed there was a phone socket on the wall next to the nightstand, but no phone. They must have unplugged it. Seems they'd thought of everything. It was heading towards evening so no hope of a maid showing up til the morning either.

'Aarrggh.'

I looked toward the sound and it was Sam. He had collapsed off the chair and was curled up on the floor holding his head, eyes scrunched closed. Dean knelt on the floor next to him; hand at Sam's back, saying nothing. Clearly this wasn't anything new. He seemed to be just waiting things out.

"What's wrong with him?"

Dean didn't answer and after a minute or so he helped Sam to sit back up on the chair and then went to get a glass of water and was back at Sam's side, hovering protectively. Sam's hands shook as he drank and I noticed he was sweating and very pale.

"You alright Sam?"

"Yeah."

"What did you see?"

Sam glanced over at me and some unspoken message passed between them, because the next thing I knew, Dean was helping a pretty wobbly looking Sam to get up and they went outside. I could only hear vague murmuring through the closed door. When they came back in they both looked agitated and if I'd thought they were insane before, now they were surpassing themselves! They got bags of salt and started pouring it all along the base of the door and at the windows on either side. They even poured salt along the bottom of the tiny window in the bathroom! See! I knew they were nuts!

"What're you doing?"

"Salting the doors and windows."

"Yeah, I can see that, but why? The maid'll be mad at you."

"Least of our worries." Sam muttered. He had resumed his place at the table and was again poring over his laptop screen.

Dean came over and sat opposite me. I was past the whole flinching thing since the bathroom episode.

"Jenny."

"Yes."

"I'm going to explain one more time. There's nothing I can do if you don't believe me, but please just hear me out, okay?"

"Um, okay." _Hear we go again!_

He started to talk and I made a real effort to listen this time. It was a fantastic story, that's for sure. And the way he sounded so earnest made it really almost believable! Anyway it boiled down to the fact that these guys believed in all sorts of otherworldly creatures and ghosts and stuff like that. And Sam has these visions and they go around hunting things and saving people! I know! Insane - right? If it wasn't for the fact that they were holding me here against my will, I might actually be laughing!

"But, why would anyone, er, any_thing_ be after me though?"

"We haven't worked that out yet, but we will. We have to find out what it wants and how it knows where you are."

"What do you mean 'how it knows where I am'? How do you know it knows where I am?"

Sam turned around then, throwing a furious look at his brother.

"Way to go Dean!"

"Sorry, it just slipped out."

"What are you talking about?" I think their paranoia was rubbing off on me. I was starting to feel a bit scared of this non-existent thing.

Sam came over and sat next to Dean.

"Look, I have these visions. I had one the day before yesterday and saw you passed out in your hotel room – that's how we knew where to find you. And I saw you again just now."

"Well just supposing I believed any of this, what _did_ you see just now?"

The pair of them did that thing again, where they said nothing but had an entire conversation with their eyes. It was pretty frustrating.

"Come on guys. Say something!"

"Jenny, it doesn't matter what I saw – it isn't gonna happen."

I guess that was meant to be reassuring, but you know – it really wasn't.

"Can I at least call my parents? I won't tell them where I am."

"Do you even _know_ where you are?" Dean asked.

"Well no." And as the reality of my situation – held in a room, God knows where, by two delusional strangers – came crashing back in on me, the tears started falling again.

"Jesus this sucks!" Dean was pacing up and down and doing that fist-clenching thing again and there was a vein standing out on his forehead that looked about ready to pop.

"Dude! Come on!! You're not helping here!"

"Sam, we're the good guys! So why do I feel like some freakin criminal?"

Wow! That guy could frown! His forehead was seriously knitted together and he looked like he really just wanted to hit something! He'd been gently cleaning vomit from my hair a few hours ago. Now, Sam shoved him, pretty roughly, to the far wall.

"What the hell?"

"Dean, she is freaked out! Just stop! Please!"

"She thinks we're gonna kill her or God know's what! We don't even get paid for this shit."

"And since when did that ever bother you?"

I could see Dean swallow and visibly relax his shoulders and then he looked at me from across the room. I'm not sure what he saw, but he sagged and Sam let him go. And crap! He came towards me!

"I'm sorry if I scared you, but…"

"Dean!"

"It's alright!!"

Sam came and sat next to him as he continued.

"You've heard of people who are psychic?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well Sam is …. like that."

_Oh god, could this get any weirder? _

"I guess you won't be letting me phone home then?"

"Jesus ch…"

"Dean!"

"Look Jenny, we can't let you do that. The call would be traced and the police would come."

"Yeah, okay I get it."

I curled up into a ball then and sobbed in terror because I really did get it. They weren't ever going to let me go.

"Please don't kill me!"

I screamed for about a couple of seconds. Then a hand was clamped over my mouth.

This is it. My family will never see me again. And they'll never know what happened. I'll just be … missing.

The hand stayed clamped over my mouth as I shook and sobbed. But nothing else. An arm was holding me, quite gently, but most importantly I wasn't being killed. I knew I was losing my mind when I started feeling amused that Sam's hand was getting covered in tears and snot.

"Jenny, I'm gonna take my hand away. Please don't scream okay?"

I did my best to nod and he took his hand away – I nearly laughed when I saw the mess. He didn't make a big deal about it though, just handed me the box of Kleenex after taking a couple of tissues for himself.

"I'm not here. This is just a nightmare, right?"

And I was about to slump against the pillows when Sam lunged towards me. I kinda shrieked. I had never known myself to make so many strange noises before, but then again I'd never been in a situation like this before either.

He grabbed at my throat and pulled out my pendant.

"Jenny, where did you get this?"

"What? M… my sister gave it to me."

"When? Why?"

"I, er, my birthday. She gave it to me for my birthday! Why? What?"

He pulled at it then and man did that burn the back of my neck! He had it in his hand and was staring at it. I was just rubbing my neck.

"Oh God! I'm sorry Jenny!" But he was so engrossed in my stupid pendant; he didn't wait for me to respond.

"Dean – look at this!"

They went and huddled in the corner then, but of course, I could hear them.

"Can you believe this?"

"Aw, crap! This _so _can't be good."


	5. Chapter 5

I could see Dean pull something out from under his shirt then and they seemed to be comparing my pendant with it

I could see Dean pull something out from under the neck of his shirt then and they seemed to be comparing my pendant with it.

"Sam, what the hell is this?"

"I don't know, but I agree it's not a good thing. It _has_ to be tied in with the visions."

Sam turned abruptly and sat in front of the laptop, clicking and typing rapidly. After a while he looked up at his brother.

"It's your birthday tomorrow!"

"Aw! You remembered! I'm tearing up here bro, but so what?"

Sam looked toward me then – huge frown on his face for some reason.

"Jenny, was it your birthday today?"

And with all the commotion of leaving for my new job – my new life – being bashed on the head and kidnapped - I'd forgotten! Go figure! So anyway, my eyes decided it was a good time to start leaking again.

"Jenny!"

"Yeah, it's my birthday." And crap, was it the most sucky, useless birthday ever! (And I had had some majorly bad birthdays).

Dean came over to my bed. My face was buried in the lumpy pillow by that stage, but I knew it was him.

"Hey c'mon Jenny! You're killin' me here! You know, this isn't the usual sort of reaction I get from girls!"

"I don't want to die, I didn't do anything! Please don't kill me!"

"You're not gonna die! Hey, if anyone is gonna keep you alive, it's me and my little bro here! This is what we do – we save people."

Oh, that was reassuring!

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"A word?"

The bed dipped as he got up.

"You know this is no coincidence, right?'

"Sam, this is weird. What the hell is going on?"

'Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I think the birthdays are significant. The image on Jenny's pendant is exactly the same as your Amulet, except the pendant is flat, like a coin or something."

"Jenny, how long have you had this?"

"Abby gave it to me the day before yesterday, just before I left."

"That's when I had the first vision!"

"Do you know where she got it?"

"No, just some junk shop probably. She's always picking up weird stuff like that."

"Did she say anything about why she gave it to you?"

"Um, nothing much. Said something about having a good feeling about it I guess."

"Good feeling?"

"I didn't take any notice – she's my sister and I love her, but she's a bit of a 'head in the clouds' kinda person. You know? Not very practical?"

"Hah! I know what you mean!" Dean grinned at me.

Sam ignored him. Frowning seemed to be in their DNA.

"Okay, what do we know?"

"Our birthdays are within 24 hours of each other, and we both have the same symbol hanging around our necks."

"And you both got the pendants as gifts from a younger sibling."

"And you had a vision of me being attacked. Twice, apparently."

Both turned towards me. Dean looked vaguely impressed – maybe he thought I had started to believe them. And, who knows, maybe I had. Or maybe I was just getting brain-washed into believing their lunacy.

"How long have you had yours?"

They exchanged another of those looks before he answered.

"A long time."

He said it so quietly, and his hand went, seemingly absent-mindedly to the twin-horned amulet resting against his chest. He held it, firmly clutched in his hand. Actually he seemed a bit lost.

Sam shifted in his seat.

Okay, these guys were having some sort of "moment", but I had a burning question!

"And nothing tried to attack you because of it?"

"Hm, good point"

"Sam?"

"This just doesn't make any sense! Why would something suddenly come after Jenny, but never attack you?"

"Hey! Do the words 'kick-ass hunter' mean anything to you?"

"Dean! Any chance we could maybe concentrate here?" And I could hardly miss the sideways roll of Sam's eyes towards me.

"You sure it was in this room Sam? We could buy some time if we just get in the car and drive?"

"No, it's here."

"What? Where??" Dean was up and grabbing a gun I didn't even know he had. Scanning every corner of the room, before launching himself at me, grabbing me off the bed and rolling me onto the floor between the two beds. I don't know how he managed it, but I ended up shoved underneath the bed, with his back tightly pressed against me.

I couldn't breathe.

"Dean! I didn't mean right now!"

"Godammit!"

"Jenny, you alright? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

I wasn't going to be talking any time soon. My heart had decided enough was enough and the earlier escape attempt at battering of my ribs, was now renewed with the vigour of someone who knows all is lost.

"Jenny?"

"JENNY?"

"What?" I finally gasped out.

"You okay?"

"No I am not fucking okay! I don't know what the fuck is going on, and this better be a fucking dream because that's it! I've had enough and I wanna wake up now."

I shut my eyes. And waited. And then opened them.

Two guys looming in at me, on the floor, under a bed in a lousy motel room.

Fuck!

Okay, still dreaming then.

Or this was real.


	6. Chapter 6

They both helped pull me out from under the bed

They both helped pull me out from under the bed. Looking down at myself it became clear that house-keeping was kept to a bare minimum at this place – I was covered in dust and lint. What a mess! Still, on the plus side, I noticed that I was standing, unaided, and not feeling dizzy.

"Hey Sam, you ever done any research on this thing?" Dean held the amulet away from his chest and twisted it around, peering at it as he spoke.

"No, it never really occurred to me. But I think I'm gonna do some now."

"Put in 'horny god' and I bet it comes up with my name!" Dean sniggered until Sam shut him up with a look that could kill at fifty paces.

I decided it was time to get cleaned up and grabbing the packages that Sam had brought, I made my way to the bathroom, quietly pleased at my renewed ability to walk. It's amazing how you take that sort of thing for granted. I was relieved to see there was a lock on the inside of the bathroom door and quickly turned it. Thankful for the thoroughness of Sam's shopping expedition, I quickly brushed my teeth, showered and changed into the clothing. I had a feeling it was just as well there was no full-length mirror in the bathroom; confirmed when I emerged and saw the barely concealed smirks on Sam and Dean's faces.

"Wow Sam, bang up job on the sizing there!!"

"Shut up Dean! Jenny I'm sorry. You can roll up the legs and the sleeves though right? Better than if they were too small?"

And he was right about that. He looked mortified and bizarrely I felt sorry for him! Why should I feel sorry for someone who kidnapped me? It was a bit confusing. I mean, they wouldn't let me go, but apart from that, they really seemed to want to make things okay for me. Part of me just wanted to scream at them to let me go and another part wanted to get that desperately sad expression off this guy's face. I'm definitely losing it.

"Yeah, it's okay. Not like I'm about to go out on the catwalk anytime soon." _Not like I'm about to get out of this mess any time soon either!_

Hm, I don't think I said the right thing. He just upped and went to the bathroom without a word. When he came out he looked even more woebegone. He didn't look at me but threw a strange glance at Dean before returning to his laptop. He was immediately absorbed. Seriously, that guy was on edge even more than me and I was mentally teetering over the edge of the Grand Canyon! And who was the victim here anyway? Dean glanced over, fidgeting as he sat on the other bed.

_What now?_

"Wanna watch TV or something?"

Still wary of what the "or something" might be I nodded, and he flicked on the screen – nothing but static, on every channel – great! This was one classy motel. Not that I was actually interested in watching anything – it's not like I could have concentrated, but I had this pathetic notion the news might come on and I could see if there was any mention of me on there – some hope that people were looking for me. Some hope.

"Ah, sorry about that. Um, don't play poker I suppose?"

"No. I don't gamble – I'm not a very lucky person. You may have noticed?"

"Ooookay. Ah, tell me about yourself! What do you do?"

Dean was quite the conversationalist.

"When I'm not busy being kidnapped, I'm a Realtor."

"Hm, can't say I've met one of those before – never had the need." And now _he_ was looking sad – what _is_ it with these guys?

"Yes you have." Sam turned towards Dean.

"When? Who?"

"You don't recall that little _bug_ problem we helped out with last year?"

"Damn! You're right! The guy with the kid that liked spiders and stuff. That was not fun! Did I mention I hate bees?"

"Come to think of it, Larry was a developer, but at least we managed to save him and his family."

"Yeah, shame about the power company guy and the …. ah, actually never mind."

"What? Who else didn't get saved?" (Seriously, I should be gagged for my own good.)

"Um, a neighbour."

Realisation dawned on me. "Let me guess – the neighbour was a Realtor – and … dead now?"

And it was just as if we had gone back to the conversation about Sam's girlfriend. What was it with these guys? Were they so mad that they were killing people and deluding themselves that they were actually saving them?

An eternity of awkwardness passed before Dean cracked under the strain of the tense atmosphere.

"I'm gonna call for takeout. Who wants pizza?"

"It'd be quicker if you went out and got it."

"I know that Sam."

"Well why don't you go then?"

Dean leapt off the sofa, grabbed the back of Sam's arm and dragged him to the corner near the door.

"You said it was tonight, right?"

"Yeah."

"And you seriously think I am gonna go out and leave you two just to get pizza?"

"I want you to."

"What?"

God these guys were crap at whispering!

"I want you to go and get pizza Dean."

"Sam, have you gone out of your mind?"

"No, I haven't."

"Well what the hell?"

"Fuck Dean! Would you just go get the pizza! Please!"

Sam was trying to get the door open, but Dean kept shoving it closed_. I_ was thinking maybe this was a chance. Maybe I could escape. Trouble was, they were kinda in the way.

"Sam, there is no way in hell I am leaving this room. Now what the fuck is up because you are starting to freak me out here."

Sam gave up on trying to get the door open and went back to the desk. Slumping into the chair, he dropped his head into his hands – a study in abject misery. "Dammit!"

Dean paced from the door to the bed and back again. Finally, he spoke, his voice low and frighteningly calm.

"What have you found out Sam?"

"Nothing."

"Well Dude, you better start talking, 'cos n case you hadn't noticed we've got a job to do here. Now why are you so damn keen to get rid of me all of a sudden?"

"I had another vision."


	7. Chapter 7

"A vision

"A vision! Oh, and let me guess – I died?"

Sam didn't look at his brother. I edged to the end of the bed.

"Yeah."

"And you figured the best way to avoid it was to send me out for fucking pizza?"

Sam looked up then, eyes liquid. "You didn't see what… you …Dean, it ... destroyed you."

Dean finally stopped pacing and sat opposite Sam.

"Jesus Christ Sam, I thought we…."

I got up off the bed and ran towards the door. I yanked it open and then stopped in my tracks. Something was there. Something that shoved me aside like I was made of air. I flew backwards and earned a hefty knock to my head as I hit the floor, the wind thumped out of me. There was noise – thunderous explosions, a high pitched shrieking and then quiet. So much quiet that I thought maybe I had gone deaf.

"Jenny. You okay?"

Okay not deaf! Dean and Sam were picking up my frazzled, trembling frame, because now, I was truly scared, and a little stunned in more ways than one.

Sam went to the wrecked door frame and peered up and down outside, while Dean levered me over to the bed.

"C'mon Jenny – talk to me!"

"There's no sign of it but I'm pretty sure we wounded it. Dean, we can't stay here. People will have heard the noise."

"Jenny?"

"Wh..what the hell was tthat thing?"

Sam was methodically working his way around the room, picking stuff up and throwing it into rucksacks.

"Um, I'm not sure, but we have to get out of here."

"Where?"

"I don't know, just not here. Come on, I'll carry you."

"I can walk!" And I got up from the bed and walked, albeit unsteadily, to the door, now hanging drunkenly on one hinge. As I walked through into the open air, the first taste of the outdoors since this nightmare began; I fought an urge to just crumple to the ground in defeat. None of this made any sense and I felt like I needed to find my "off" button so I could go into oblivion. Instead I allowed myself to be shepherded down to some old, black car and into its rear seat.

"Dean,. You should sit in the back with her."

"Why me?"

"Because she trusts you."

"What? She doesn't trust either of us!"

"She thinks I murdered my girlfriend!"

"No she doesn't... well okay, maybe she does."

"The keys?"

"Godammit! You hurt my car…"

"Yeah, you'll kill me – you only told me about a million times – I'll probably get it one of these days."

Dean slid into the back seat on the opposite side from mine. Sam shut all the doors and settled in behind the wheel.

Dean turned to me. I was huddled into as small a puddle of humanity as I could manage.

"So, er, Jenny, you don't play poker, but I bet you love great cars and classic rock, right?"

"For God's sake Dean!"

"What?"

"Just… pick something normal to talk about, would you?"

"What could be more normal than great cars and classic rock?"

Sam half turned, mouth open.

"Sam. Don't say what you're about to say, or I swear I will kill you."

Sam directed his attention back to the road. _Was it my imagination or were his shoulders quaking like he was laughing?_

"And quit laughing, you bastard!"

A few minutes passed in silence before Dean spoke again.

"Ya know Sam, that's twice now."

"Twice?"

"Twice it didn't happen."

"What?… oh."

"So, I'm thinking we're being played with these visions of yours."

I straightened up in the seat. Huddled up in a corner was all very well, but it wasn't very comfortable.

Dean beamed at me. "Ah good, you're still with us."

"I'm not seeing the 'good' part about it."

"Jenny, you _did _see that non-human thing burst into our room just now, right?"

"I think I'm gonna go with 'hallucination due to concussion'. God my head's killing me."

"That'll be down to hitting your head on the floor – but of course, that never happened did it?"

"Dean – leave her alone. She's hurt and she probably doesn't want to believe what she just saw."

And man did he get that right! I didn't get much of a look at it, but it didn't look like any human or animal I'd ever seen. And if it wasn't something normal, then maybe these guys were telling the truth about everything else. And if everything else was true… then I didn't want to believe it!

"Sorry Jenny."

He reached over to the glove box and rooted around, finally smiling in triumph as he found a bottle of Tylenol. "Sam, is there a bottle of water in the door next to you?"

"Uh, yeah – here." He passed it back to Dean who presented me with both items.

"Just one thing Jenny."

"What's that?" I answered absently, uncapping the bottle of pills and tapping two out.

"If you think you're gonna throw up can you give us some warning so we can stop and you can get out?"

"Smooth Dean!"

"What? None of us want the car reeking of vomit!"

"It's okay; I wouldn't want someone throwing up in my car either." _And anyway, maybe if I chose my moment carefully, it could be a way to escape._

"There! See Sam? If you had your own car, you'd understand!"

"Dean, could you BE any more juvenile?"

Silence descended again until finally Dean asked where we were headed.

"I was thinking we could just keep driving until we run out of gas, then we can just sit in the car and wait for it to come and kill us."

"And you call _me _juvenile! Fine! I'll get the road map! You only had to ask!"

"Actually, I don't think it makes much difference where we go. It seems to be able to track the pendant somehow."

"So we ditch it! Jenny, I'm guessing you're not emotionally attached to it, right?"

I shook my head, stupidly as it turned out, as everything started spinning. I shut my eyes.

"We can't just ditch it Dean. We have no idea what it will do with it."

"Maybe it just thinks it'll look cool round its ugly-ass neck?"

"Yeah Dean, that'll be it."

Dean sighed.

"Why don't you melt it down or something?" I suggested.

"Huh! Sam, what about that? And where is it anyway?"

"My back pocket."

"Well, what about melting it down – could that work?

"Maybe. It's gotta be worth a shot. We just need a furnace of some sort."

"Okay! We have a plan! All we need to do is find an old church."

"Why?"

"Come on Sammy! Remember when we melted the silver necklace?"

"Dean, you actually do have a brain! Right, find a church on the route map and we'll head to it."

"Don't hospitals have incinerators too?"

"Yeah Jenny they do, but they also have a lot of security – a church would be easier – and quicker."

"Hey Dean, look out for Crematoriums too."

I was starting to think that the nightmare might be about to end. Dean was poring over a route map, Sam was focussed on getting us as far away from that creature as possible, and the Tylenol had started to kick in. Maybe I was going to survive this ordeal after all.

Then something occurred to me and of course I was unable to keep it to myself.

"What if Sam has a vision while he is driving?"

"Sam – pull over!"

"Dean, don't be stupid!"

"Pull over right now!"

"I'm not gonna have a vision and anyway I know when they're about to hit."

"Sam, there's a church coming up so pull the fuck over!"

Sam pulled over immediately. "Where?"

Dean scanned the map more closely.

"Yeah, there's a church in Fremont – it's the next turn-off – 'bout 3 miles. And I'm driving."

Amazingly Sam didn't argue the point, just got out and walked around to the front passenger seat. Dean gave me a quick glance and made his way to the driver seat.

As the car pulled back out onto the road, Sam looked over the front seat to me.

"Are you okay back there Jenny? I kinda assumed you wouldn't want me to sit with you?"

Damn, I felt bad then. He really didn't seem like the kind of guy that would murder his girlfriend, or kidnap people. His eyes were so sad as he gazed at me that an inner voice started urging me to throw the poor guy a bone.

"Sam I'm okay. If it makes any difference to you, I'm sorry about your girlfriend."

A quick smile turned up the corners of his mouth.

"Thanks" was all he said.

Soon enough we were pulling up outside a small church and if the guys weren't murderers, they were, apparently, seasoned burglars given how fast they broke into the house of god. For once I kept my mouth shut though.

In the basement the furnace was lit but not exactly burning fiercely. It was night-time after all. Sam took my pendant from his pocket, and with a swift glance to me, tossed it into the flames. We watched as the leather thong sizzled and disintegrated. The pendant grew red after a while, glowing brighter and brighter.

But not melting.


	8. Chapter 8

"Whoa

"Whoa!"

Dean grabbed his Amulet but immediately dropped it back to his chest, where it burnt through his tee-shirt and he grabbed it again.

It was glowing.

And apparently burning hot – he pulled it off and threw it to the ground.

"Dean?"

"I'm okay Sam. But what the hell?" Dean flexed his hand – his palm and parts of his fingers were reddened where he had held the Amulet before throwing it down. The Amulet, lying on the ground in front of the furnace, was pulsing red and orange and red again.

"Oh hell."

"What?"

"Look."

Sam was transfixed by the pendant in the furnace.

The pendant was untouched by the flames, but the image of the horned god on its face was blood red, actually pulsing red and orange, just like Dean's Amulet.

"Crap. What now?"

"We might as well get it out of there." Sam grabbed a pair of iron tongs that were hanging next to the furnace door and managed to grasp the glowing disc and drop it to the floor next to the Amulet. As it cooled, so too did the Amulet, gradually returning to its former dull, metallic gleam.

"Well that's pretty weird! Sam I don't get it. That Amulet has never caused me any problems, or attracted ugly critters and it definitely hasn't ever got red hot and glowed."

"I know. Bobby wouldn't have given us something that was evil in any case. I mean I know it was supposed to be for Dad, but they weren't on such bad terms he would have given some cursed Amulet to him."

It seemed to me that they were very engrossed in their conversation. I slowly stepped backwards and gradually receded into the background… towards the door. I pulled it open and ran through the small church, towards two heavy wooden double doors. Funny thing though, the nearer I got to them, the more terrified I felt about what might be on the other side. Eventually I was standing in front of the doors, stuck in place like someone had covered me in superglue.

"Jenny?"

It was Dean's voice coming from behind me. And, since I hadn't moved, he was soon in front of me, waving a hand in front of my face, like I was blind or something.

"Jenny"

"What?"

"You know, if you're gonna make a run for it, generally that would involve actually running."

"I… I… don't know…."

"Don't know what?

"What to do. I want this to stop. I don't want this to be happening. I don't want to be here."

"I'm really sorry you got caught up in this Jenny."

"Not as sorry as me."

"C'mon, sit down." And he led me to a pew. A _pew_! In_ a church_! Shouldn't I feel safe? Shouldn't this be a place of safe-haven? Shouldn't I be protected here?

Dean hugged me.

And it was strange how I didn't mind – how _that_ made me feel secure – my kidnapper hugging me! But neither Dean nor Sam had hurt me in any way, and they had managed to stop that thing from doing whatever it wanted to do, when it attacked me in my hotel, and again in the motel room.

I was in a church – terrified of some unknown evil – and being protected by criminals.

And I believed them.

And as soon as I admitted that to myself, I started shaking. Now, terrifying, nonsensical things, that I didn't even want to _think_ about, were outside those doors. Nothing was going to be the same again now that I knew what was out there in the shadows.

Dean had been holding me the whole time. Saying nothing as I continued to tremble.

"How can you do it?"

"Do what?"

"This! Whatever it is you do. How do you sleep knowing what's out there?"

"Well, I guess you just get used to it – that, and a big-ass knife under my pillow."

I cracked a grin at that. The guy was pretty funny.

"Guess I won't be running away then."

"Guess not – not until we figure this out anyway. Then we'll take you home. Okay?"

"None of this is okay, but I think staying with you two is the smartest option right now. Never thought I'd be saying that!"

"Yeah, I guess this is all a bit of a shock – actually this is weird even for us."

"Terrific! Just what I need to hear!"

"Oh, sorry. By the way, I've got a reputation to protect so can we keep this whole hugging thing just between the two of us? Sam doesn't need to know."

"Too late Dean – you're busted!"

"Crap!" Dean slipped his arm away from my shoulders and we watched Sam coming down the aisle towards us.

"Yep, I'll be dining out on this for months!" He grinned and pretty much lit up the dimly lit church. Wow! His face was transformed when he smiled.

"Thanks for that Jenny!" And I couldn't help but grin back at him.

It was just a brief moment though, and Sam was swiftly back to his serious face.

He had the pendant and the Amulet, both looking small and insignificant, in his huge hand, and held them out to Dean, who eyed them warily. After a moment's indecision, he gingerly picked up the Amulet in his now blistered right hand and slipped it over his head. He briefly enclosed it with his left hand against his chest, apparently deep in thought. But, like Sam, he soon snapped out of it and was all business again.

"Okay, the pendant won't melt and I'm betting it can't be cut or damaged by any normal means. Could it be protected by a spell or something?"

"I'm gonna call Bobby. He gave me the Amulet to give to Dad in the first place – he must know something about it."

"Funny how he's never said anything about it in all these years."

"I guess we never asked."

Sam had his cell to his ear and was waiting for this Bobby person to answer.

"Hey Bobby."

"Yeah, I know. Sorry. But…" he rolled his eyes at Dean, who smirked back at him then whispered to me.

"Bobby is giving him shit about not calling and letting him know we're okay. He does it every time!"

"Who's Bobby?"

"Oh, well, he's kinda like an adopted uncle. Friend of our dad's – sorta. Anyway long story, but Bobby is one of us. Knows all about hunting. He gave this Amulet to Sam when we were kids, so we're hoping he knows something about it."

"I thought Sam said the Amulet was supposed to be for your dad? Why did he give it to you?"

And it seemed that that was a pretty large can of worms I'd just opened, judging from the inscrutable expression on Dean's face and the curious look Sam had shot his way, before going back to his phone conversation.

"Uh, it's complicated."

And he clearly didn't want to talk about it. So I decided to let it drop. Still I had a bunch of other questions I was itching to ask.

"Where is your dad? And your mom – you haven't mentioned her."

"They're both dead." Dean didn't even look at me as he answered, just stared at the blisters on his hand.

_Jenny, don't you dare ask another question! Just shut up__, right now! _

"Oh, I'm sorry." And I really was. Sam's girlfriend had died too. These guys seemed to have no one except each other and this Bobby fella. And judging by the very lived in state of that big old car of theirs, no real home either. It seemed desperately sad to me. How lonely and isolated they must be.

Sam's conversation had ended and he slipped his cell back into the inside pocket of his jacket.

"Well?"

"He didn't have much to tell. Says he got the Amulet from a Seer he knew back then. Says he trusted her and when she told him to give it to Samuel Winchester, he had no reason to think she meant any harm."

"Didn't he ask her why?"

"Yep, but she just told him I was to give it to 'my protector' and Bobby assumed she meant Dad."

"Huh!" Dean seemed to stand a bit straighter then, a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, don't get too swell-headed about it Dean, it could all be a load of old lady nonsense."

A shadow of hurt flew across Dean's face before he shrugged it off.

"Well we need to go see this old lady and get her to tell us something useful."

"Nope, she was ancient even back then - died a couple of years later."

"Damn!"

"But Bobby is convinced she was for real and that the Amulet is meant to give the wearer some sort of protection. He's pretty surprised about the pendant and I've texted him a photo of it so he can try to find out more about both of them."

"What now then?"

"Well, we can't stay here all night. The creature can obviously track the pendant and move quickly, but it's wounded now, which will hopefully slow it down. I think we should find a motel and hole up til the morning. I'll keep looking for information on the laptop and maybe Bobby can find something in one of those books of his in the meantime."

"Okay, sounds like a plan. Not as brilliant as one I would have come up with, but we'll make do for now."

"Hilarious Dean."

"Hey! No disrespecting your Protector!"

"Dude if you keep on about that, I may have to share the photo I took of you being all chick-flicky and huggy, with everyone on my contact list."

"You didn't?"

"Oh yeah - I did!"

Dean muttered what I am sure were not very nice words under his breath, but made no more comments as we left the church and headed back to the car.

"Guess I'm in the back then?"

They both turned and looked at me like I was insane for suggesting anything else.

"Okay, back it is."

As we drove off into the night, I had no idea where we were going or how this was all going to end. My world had shrunk to the messy back seat of an old muscle car and two strange, apparently demon hunting brothers - but at least I was still alive.


	9. Chapter 9

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I was woken by a push against my arm

A/N Apart from major cities, all place names are entirely fictional and have no connection with any real place by the same name.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because I was woken by a slight push against my arm. Opening gritty eyes, I levered myself back upright on the seat. Dean was grinning at me over the front seat.

"How's the head?"

"Hm, not too bad considering. Where are we?"

"Welcome to Louisville."

I peered out of the window. We were parked outside a pretty dowdy looking motel – a neon sign proclaiming it to be The Daisy Duke Motel, though the 'i' from Daisy and the 'e' from Duke were both flickering, and the 't' was gone completely.

"Classy."

"Hey, no complaining! I haven't said a word about you drooling all over my upholstery."

"Oh, sorry about that." _Man, how embarrassing._

"Actually it was nearly worth it – you look pretty funny when you're asleep."

"Is it safe for me to leave you two bickering in the car, while I get us a room?"

"Sure Sam – and don't forget we need a _family_ room."

"Right." Sam left but was soon back dangling a key by a huge car shaped key fob.

"It's the General Lee!"

"Yep. You know, I could be wrong, but I think this place has a theme."

And Sam wasn't wrong! The room was a total homage to The Dukes of Hazard with posters of Bo and Luke and Daisy plastering the walls, and the beds each had matching 01s on bright orangey-red backgrounds.

"Cool!" Dean flopped, grinning, onto one of the beds after dropping his duffel on the floor.

Sam and I exchanged horrified glances.

"He's serious, isn't he?"

"Yep. Welcome to the special hell that is being Dean Winchester's brother."

"Hey!"

"Okay, it's pretty late. We should get some sleep and then get started on some serious research tomorrow."

"Um…"

"Oh, Jenny all your stuff is in my duffel - here."

Sam opened up the bag and left me to rummage through to find the things he had got for me, jumbled in with his own. It was a little embarrassing going through his clothes – specially the underwear. And then my hand closed around something metal and I pulled out a handgun.

"Whoa, I'll just take that Jenny." Sam gently took the weapon from me.

"You won't get an argument from me."

"Don't like guns?" Dean asked, still sprawled out on his bed.

"Never had anything to do with them. You guys seem pretty comfortable around them though."

"Yeah, well we kinda grew up with them. And in our line of work, they're pretty crucial."

"I noticed."

Dean got up then and started doing the thing with the salt.

"That didn't do much good before – why bother?"

"Because there are plenty of other things out there that it _will_ stop."

"Oh, yeah. Thanks for reminding me."

"Sorry. But you know as soon as we figure this thing out you can go right back to your life and try to forget about it."

"I don't think it's going to be that easy to forget this Dean."

"Well, maybe not – but there's no reason to think you'll ever have any other problems like this – might wanna encourage that sister of yours to buy you presents from regular stores in future though."

"Oh, I'll be having some choice words with her if I get out of this alive!"

Dean came and sat next to me.

"Jenny, you're going to be fine. Me and Sammy are going to kill that thing, and you are going back to your normal life. Trust me on that."

"I wish I could Dean, but this whole thing seems way out of control and you don't even know what it is, or what it wants, or how …"

"Hey! This is our job! We'll figure it all out."

He gave me a quick hug, broken off swiftly when he heard Sam sniggering behind us.

"Dean I swear you are turning into a girl! Oh, no offence Jenny!"

"Plenty taken!" I threw a pillow at him, which he ducked easily.

"You know, you two are spookily similar!"

The pillow came flying back and Dean caught it and advanced on Sam about to smack him on the head with it, when Sam's cell rang.

"Hey Bobby."

"Yeah, we're okay. We're in Louisville."

"Okay."

He set the cell down on the bedside table next to the bed.

"Well?"

"He was just checking we were okay. He forgot what time it is out here. He's gonna call again tomorrow."

"Hey Sam, let me have the pendant."

Sam tossed it across and Dean caught it easily.

"What are you doing?"

"Oh, just wanna try a little experiment."

He took his Amulet off and placed it on the top of the mini-fridge next to the pendant. Then he opened the fridge, got out some ice cubes and covered the pendant with them.

All three of us watched in fascination as the Amulet frosted over, despite there being no ice on it.

"So, whatever happens to the pendant, affects my Amulet the same way. Weird!"

He paused to look at his blistered palm.

"Sam! Check this out!" He held his palm up and it was completely healed – no blisters, no redness, as if the burns had never happened.

"Oh wow – that is bizarre!"

"You got that right Jenny! I'm invincible!"

"Don't get carried away Dean. A few blisters healed up faster than usual. You don't get to join the Fantastic Four just yet."

"Fantastic Four? Are you kidding me? I'm unique! Kind of a cross between Spiderman and Connor MacLeod."

"Who?"

"You know, from Highlander – there can be only one!"

Looking from one bemused face to another, he threw his hands up in defeat.

"Never mind!"

"Dean, you are not immortal!"

"Oh so you _do_ know who Connor MacLeod is!"

"How long have you had that Amulet? And how many times have you been injured? Have you ever healed up super-fast before?"

"No."

"Want me to shoot you to test out your new theory then?"

Dean's face fell.

"You already did that Sam."

"God Dean, I'm sorry, I didn't mean that, I wasn't thinking."

"It's alright. Let's just get some sleep."

"But Dean, I…"

"Drop it Sam."

And just like that, the atmosphere changed. Had Sam shot his brother? Judging by the stricken expression on his face, something pretty bad had happened. Every instinct in me screamed to ask, but for once, I kept my mouth shut.

Dean put the Amulet back around his neck, leaving the pendant lying in a small pool of melted ice water. He disappeared into the bathroom.

Sam was sitting on the other queen size bed; head in his hands, hair flopping forward and shoulders slumped.

I felt desperately sorry for him. _But did he really shoot his own brother? Maybe it was an accident?_

"Uh, hey Sam, thanks for getting those things for me. I never thanked you before, but I appreciate it." _Okay, pretty lame, but I needed to say something to the poor guy._

It was moment before he responded, looking up at me with what looked like suspiciously shiny eyes.

"That's okay Jenny."

"What's the plan for tomorrow then?" _Even lamer! He'd already said, but I was desperate to get that crestfallen look off his face._

Dean came out of the bathroom then and silently crossed the room to the other bed and sat down. He will still fully dressed. And then it dawned on me we had a tricky situation to deal with!

"Uh, guys, I'm gonna go to the bathroom now, and, you know, if you want to get ready for bed while I'm gone, and, uh, turn off the lights…. um, that would be okay with me."

Dean visibly relaxed.

"Sounds like a plan Jenny."

I rapidly departed to the bathroom with my few newly acquired belongings.

When I emerged, in oversized pyjamas, the room was thankfully in darkness. I padded over to the single bed in the corner and got under the covers, pulling them right up and over my head. Sleep was a long time coming, and not just because of the hard, lumpy mattress and vague damp smell from the pillow. There was a palpable atmosphere in the room and I didn't think either of them were sleeping. Something was niggling me too. Something about the Amulet and the blisters and what Sam had said…


	10. Chapter 10

In the morning the atmosphere was mostly back to normal (whatever normal was)

In the morning the atmosphere was mostly back to normal (whatever normal was). Dean was singing in the shower and Sam had gone out to get breakfast. I guess they trusted me not to run away now. Things had certainly changed in the last couple of days. I was seriously wondering if my life could ever just go back to the way it was. Maybe I could get myself hypnotised to forget everything that I had seen and heard? Had to be worth a shot. Still, it seemed this whole mess had to be sorted out if I was ever going to get my life back.

Sam came back, laden with cardboard coffee cups and a large paper sack with "Mom n' Pop's" emblazoned across the side.

"Didn't know what you'd like Jenny, so I got a bit of everything – Dean'll hoover up whatever is left."

"Hey! I heard that!" Dean emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and rubbing a towel through his damp hair. "And damn straight I will! Well not if you brought that grey slop though."

"He means oatmeal.."

"God I hate that too."

"Hah!"

Sam dropped the bag down on the little table alongside the coffee cups.

"There's no oatmeal – they don't sell it to go. So you're both safe from the evil cereal."

"So what'ya get then Sammy?" Dean had already opened the bag and was pulling out cartons.

"Jenny you better get in there before he eats everything in sight."

By now Dean had opened everything up and put out three paper plates and plastic forks and I spotted some hash browns and bacon among the pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, sausages and grilled tomatoes and mushrooms. There were little plastic lidded tumblers of what looked like freshly squeezed orange juice and an assortment of sachets of condiments completed the heavenly smelling haul.

The three of us sat down at the table and there was a brief silence as we tucked in. It was pretty good. Or maybe I was just appreciating solid food after such a long time without.

After a while I had to speak up about the notion that had been running around in my head.

"Guys, don't laugh, but I had this thought about the pendant and the Amulet."

"Oh yeah? Well don't be shy." Dean got out through bulging cheeks. Sam looked at him with what I can only describe as sibling disgust. (It certainly reminded me of the way my sister and I would look at our brother sometimes.)

"Any ideas at this point would be great Jenny." Sam's smile encouraged me.

"Well, you know how you said the Amulet was intended by your friend – Bobby – to be for your dad but it ended up with Dean?"

"Uh huh."

I ploughed on, not absolutely sure where I was going with it.

"And you guys and Bobby all think the Amulet is meant as some sort of protective symbol?"

"Yeah, we've never had any reason to doubt that, and Bobby seems convinced. Where are you going with this Jenny?"

"Okay right, well the Amulet burnt Dean's hand last night – that's not very protective is it?"

"No, but his hand healed up way faster than normal… wait, Jenny you could be on to something!"

Sam totally got it! (and didn't think I was an idiot!)

Dean swallowed the last of his food and glanced between us, looking puzzled.

"I'm pretty sure I'm missing something here."

"Dean the Amulet burnt you, but I think it healed you too. It only got that hot when we threw the pendant into the furnace. As soon as we took the pendant out of the flames, your burns healed up."

"But look at all the times I've been injured before Sam? I didn't notice it healing me those times."

"But Dean, the Amulet burnt you this time. All the other times you've been hurt, it had nothing to do with it."

"So this thing is only useful after it has burnt me, is that it? Pretty lame protection!"

"Dean, we don't know anything about it. Who knows what else it can do? Bobby must think there's something special about it."

"Well I guess. But what's going on with the pendant? It's definitely not protecting Jenny!"

"Tell me about it!"

"No, but for some reason whatever happens to the pendant affects the Amulet. Could the Amulet be protecting the pendant some way?"

"Okay, so we need to add to our ever increasing list of questions! Great!"

"There's something else we can add."

"What?"

"Why did I have visions? What does this have to do with the Yellow Eyed Demon?"

"The what?"

"Oh right. Sorry, Jenny, you probably don't want to know this, but all of my visions have been connected to a demon up to now."

"Great. _So_ glad I asked. But why don't you think this demon sent the visions this time?"

"Because… well it's a long story, but this just doesn't fit."

"I've been saying this all along Sam! That bastard is playing with us!"

"What would it possibly gain from that Dean?"

"Oh you don't think sending us _way_ across the country to find a pendant that just happens to look like my Amulet and then giving you visions of me dead, _isn't_ playing with us? I don't know Sam, maybe it's trying to keep us away from something?"

Sam went white.

"Or someone…."

"Bobby!"

Dean was straight on his cell.

"C'mon Bobby – pick up!"

"Bobby! Man, are you okay?"

"Because we think the Yellow Eyed Demon might be after you."

"Look, we'll explain when you get here, but get over here – it's safer if we're together."

Dean started pacing the room, cell glued to his ear.

"What? Bobby are you nuts?"

"What's he saying Dean?"

"He says the demon has known about him for all these years and he's not running now. Stubborn old fool!"

"Yeah, you heard me – you're a stubborn idiot! Bobby, please! Just come here."

Listening to this and looking at his distraught face, I thought Dean seemed desperate; almost panicked. This Bobby was pretty important to him I guessed.

"Dean, let me talk to him."

Dean handed the phone over. Breathing deeply, he paced the room.

"Hey Bobby, it's Sam."

"Yeah, I heard. But Bobby…"

Sam listened for about 30 seconds and clicked off. He handed the cellphone back to Dean.

"He's not coming."

"Goddammit!"

Oh and there was the scary guy again; Dean looked about ready to explode.

Sam moved over and stood next to me, giving me a gentle but reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

"Dean. He knows what he's doing."

"Fuck that Sammy! If he won't come here, we're going to him!"

"No Dean. We can't."

I was surprised at how soft and low, but absolutely firm Sam's voice was. Specially in the face of so much anger.

"What? Why n…. oh."

"Exactly. We have a job to finish here. Whether or not the Yellow Eyed Demon has anything to do with this, we need to sort this out for Jenny."

Dean breathed heavily and shut his eyes. When he opened them, he was staring at me.

"Yeah, okay."

That was enough for Sam apparently. He cleared the breakfast stuff back into the paper sack and deposited the lot into the waste paper basket. With the table cleared, he opened up his laptop and was immediately absorbed.

"I'm gonna go pick up a newspaper and get a few things from the trunk on the way back – either of you need anything while I'm out?"

"Not for me. Jenny, how about you?"

"Um no, I'll maybe read the paper once you're done with it."

Dean left.

"He gets really angry doesn't he?"

"Yeah, he does. But don't worry, only ever with the bad guys."

"And you… and that guy, Bobby."

"Yeah well, it's different with family."

And I had to admit, he had a point.

So, I headed to the bathroom for a shower. Musing that if it wasn't for the life-threatening creature pursuing me, this would have seemed like a pretty ordinary domesticated scene. Strange how fast you can get used to extraordinary circumstances.

I came out, dressed again in the oversized sweat pants and top.

"Hey Jenny, do you have any idea what the name of the shop was where your sister bought your pendant?"

"Well there are a couple she goes to quite a lot."

I named them and Sam quickly looked them up. One had apparently recently closed down according to a note on the home page. Having got the telephone number for the second one, he called it. After a brief conversation he ended the call and then used his cell to take a photograph of the medal and then texted it to the shop owner.

"I'm hoping he can tell me where he got it from."

"Oh of course, that makes sense. I hadn't even thought of that!"

I was graced with a shy, dimpled smile, so infectious I couldn't help but grin back at him.

"Is the guy going to call you back?"

"Yeah. He said he'd need to look up his records because it probably came in with a job lot of stuff from a house clearance – that's where most of his stuff comes from. Luckily it sounds like he keeps pretty good records of everything he gets in."

Dean arrived back just then and dropped a heavy looking bag onto the floor and a newspaper onto the table next to the laptop. He glanced at me and I thought he looked a little uncomfortable – on edge or something. Sam obviously thought so too.

"Is everything okay Dean?"

Dean shot another glance at me.

"Uh, yeah. It's just, ah…"

"Dean you're scaring me – what is it?"

"Jenny, it's okay, just that there's something in the newspaper.."

"About me?" I went to pick up the paper. "What does it say?"

I checked the front page, then, finding nothing; I opened it up and rapidly scanned through the second and third pages. Finally I found it, on page four. There was a small picture of me and a couple of paragraphs of text beside it. As I read the scant few words, tears welled up. The article described police efforts to trace my whereabouts and ended with a plea from my family to whoever had taken me, to let me go and pleading with my kidnappers not to harm me.

I slumped dejectedly on a bed and cried. I wanted to go home. I wanted my mom and dad. Dean sat next to me and put an arm around my shoulders and Sam sat on the other side of me and grabbed my hand after handing me some tissues. So there I was, with my "kidnappers", being comforted and looked after, and protected, while everyone out there, including my own family, wanted nothing more than to hunt them down. But thinking of my distressed parents brought fresh tears.

"I will see them again won't I?"

Dean took one of the tissues out of my hand and dabbed at the tears streaming down my face.

"Aw Jenny, please stop crying. I promise you, we will get you back to them, safe and sound. Right Sam?"

Sam squeezed my hand, gave me a quick, tight smile and got up as his phone rang.

"Mr Evans, thanks for calling back."

"Who's that?" Dean asked, still sitting next to me.

"That's the owner of the shop where my sister probably got the pendant. Sam's trying to find out where he got it from."

"Good. Are you okay Jenny? Okay if I give Bobby a quick call?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I'm such a cry baby."

"Anybody would be freaked Jenny. You're doing great."

"Oh sure. If vomiting and crying and drooling over your back seat is doing great, then I'm world class." I nudged his arm with my elbow. "Go call your friend."

"You _are_ doing great Jenny." He got up and slipped outside to make the call. Meanwhile, Sam's call was just ending. I made a feeble attempt to blot my eyes and runny nose.

"That's really helpful Mr Evans. Thank you very much."

"So? What did he say?"

"He said a guy came in just the day before your sister did, wanting to sell the pendant."

Dean came back in.

Sam carried on, sparing a quick look to his brother. "He said the guy was odd and didn't seem to care how much he got for it. He gave him 10 for it. And he sold it to your sister for 20 the next day."

"That cheapskate! Wait till I see her!" Except of course I was going to hug her to death if I ever saw her again.

"Sam, what did he mean by "odd"?"

"He said the guy was wearing coloured lenses. Made his eyes funny coloured, like… gold or something."


	11. Chapter 11

"You think it's the Yellow Eyed Demon

"You think it was the Yellow Eyed Demon?"

"I don't think we should jump to any conclusions Dean. Haven't you noticed a lot of strange coincidences about this whole thing? The birthdays, the sibling gifts? The matching images? Don't you think it's all a bit _too _obvious or convenient or something?"

Dean looked troubled and suddenly gave me a hard stare as he stepped away from me and stood next to Sam, facing me.

"You think Jenny…?" His eyes swivelled sideways, briefly, to his brother and then snapped back to me.

"Dean. I think if Jenny was possessed or meant us any harm, she has had plenty opportunity to kill us."

"Yeah, well, just the same. Christo."

"What? I don't believe this! You think _I'm_ the bad guy now?"

I was angry as hell. None of this was my fault and now this? Unbelievable!

"Alright – both of you calm down. Come on Dean, Jenny is a victim here. I think you're right though – what you said before – we're being played somehow."

"Do you think Bobby is in danger?"

"Not sure – maybe, but maybe not. Maybe we're missing something."

I was still feeling indignant about Dean suggesting I was some kind of evil thing and only half listening because I was too busy glaring at him.

"Ah, Jenny?"

"Yes Sam?" I bit off, still glaring at Dean, who glared right back at me.

"Dean didn't mean to offend you – did you Dean?"

"Sam, I made a natural assumption in the circumstances."

"Well you were pretty quick to jump to that conclusion! You guys are the ones who dragged me out of my hotel – I didn't send you a card saying "Sam and Dean are invited to kidnap me"!"

"Hey, we saved your a…"

"Okay! That's enough! God you two are annoying!"

"Hey!" And damn! We both said it at the same time. The glaring contest continued.

"Hah! You two must be twins separated at birth! You're both pathetic!"

"But.."

"Dean – tell Jenny you know she's not a demon. And Jenny – accept he means it – okay?"

"But.."

"OKAY?"

The incongruity of the conversation suddenly struck me and a bubble of laughter burbled its way up my chest and burst out. Trouble is, once I start; I find it hard to stop and I was soon doubled up, clutching my ribs, tears leaking from my eyes.

Sam must have thought I was hysterical and he came and knelt in front of me.

"We're sorry Jenny! Please don't be upset."

"I.. I'm not…" _breathe ha ha_ "upset. I'm just…" _ha ha ha, breathe_ "happy to know I'm…" _oh the pain! Breathe! Ha ha ha _ "not a demon! I never…" _ha ha ha_ "used to worry about it before!"

Having finally got the sentence out, I just rolled over sideways on the bed and howled with laughter, barely able to take in a breath with the pain from my ribs. It was a moment or two before I realised Dean and Sam had started laughing too.

The pain in my ribs was so intense I had to stop laughing eventually, just so I could get a desperately needed breath in. Sam was lying on the floor next to the bed, one knee up, rocking with laughter and also clutching his ribs. Dean was bent over, one arm using the back of a chair for support, the other wiping his forearm across his eyes. He looked up and caught me watching him, a giant grin on my face.

"Uh, well….. um.. I guess we did you a favour huh?"

And we all dissolved.

Dean's phone rang.

"Hey Bobby!"

Sam sat up abruptly. He stayed sitting on the floor, one arm splayed out across the bed, but attention totally on Dean.

"Yeah, we're okay here." He winked at me. I stuck my tongue out at him and he grinned back. We were okay.

"Uh huh" "Oh. Okay." "You alright?" "Okay, but, you know…" "I _know_, but.."

"Is there anything more irritating than listening to a one-sided phone conversation?"

Sam gave me what can only be described as an incredulous look.

"Yeah, there's one thing."

"What?"

"Listening to Dean's mullet rock collection – over and over and over again."

"Fine but you call if anything at all is wrong." "Same right back at ya Bobby!" "Okay, I will."

"So?"

"He's fine. Nothing strange or different going on."

"Why'd he call?"

"Right, that's the interesting bit. He's been asking around about the image on the pendant and my Amulet."

Sam got up and sat beside me.

"And?"

"Nothing much to tell. But what there is, is all good."

"Come on, what?"

"These things are incredibly rare. Probably why you can't find anything online."

"Anything else?"

"Nothing definite, but from what Bobby says, they become like a part of their true owner."

"So… couldn't hurt their true owner…"

"Yeah…and that means…."

Sam got up and walked towards Dean, who had the Amulet cupped in the palm of his hand, and was gazing at it with a strange expression on his face.

"You're the true owner Dean."

"Uh, yeah." Dean avoided his brother's gaze and I barely heard his next words.

"You know I still love it."

"I know. And you're welcome."

I had this notion they might hug, but apparently they don't do that sort of thing.

Anyway! This was great!

"I'm not the true owner of the pendant!"

"Yeah, seems that way Jenny."

"Great! So I just give it back and everything is fixed!"

"Uh, not…"

"You guys said it can track the pendant, so we just take it out to a field, throw it out there and all go home!"

"Jenny."

"Yeah, what?" I beamed happily at Sam, confident now that I would see my family again. Go back to my life.

"It's not that simple."

My euphoric high took a nosedive.

"Why not?" I felt crushed.

"What if it belongs to something evil?"

They both gazed at me with such intensity. I knew they'd hate me.

"What if I don't care? What if I just want to go home?"

"Jenny, what if it wants to kill you?"

I gulped.

"Why would it want to kill me if I give it back?" I whispered, afraid, no, terrified really, to hear the answer.

"Because if something evil is toying with us Jenny, it won't think twice about killing you."


	12. Chapter 12

"Well what the hell are we gonna do then

"Well what the hell are we gonna do then? How am I ever going to get home?"

"We're working on it Jenny. You _are_ going to get home."

Sam sat back at the table.

"Okay, let's think this through. The Amulet and the pendant are supposed to belong to someone specific and they give some sort of protection to their true owner. At least as far as we know. Maybe the original owner of the pendant died…"

"Huh, some protection then!"

Sam ignored the interruption.

"… or maybe it was stolen and deliberately taken to the store for some reason?"

"If it was stolen, then the real owner would probably be pretty keen to get it back." Dean joined Sam at the table.

"Hey – what if that creature is the true owner?" I ventured.

"But the creature attacked us. Bobby seems convinced that the pendant isn't anything evil, so how could its true owner be evil?"

"Yeah, but…" I didn't get any further. They were deep in conversation and taking no notice of me.

"Yeah, and who's the dude with the yellow eyes who took it to the shop? Could it really be the YED?"

"I don't know Dean. Seems a bit strange that he wouldn't just use someone else to do it. Unless it was deliberate because he knew we would find out and come running."

"Well what about your visions? You've only ever had them from him before."

"Doesn't mean someone else couldn't send them though does it? There must be more than one demon around I guess."

"True."

"And remember the vision I had when Max locked me in the cupboard? Why would that have come from the YED? Why would he have helped me to get out so I could stop Max from killing you?"

"Who's this Max guy Sam?" I asked, intrigued that someone could push a guy the size of Sam into a cupboard.

"Uh, that's another long story that….. didn't end very well."

"C'mon Sam, there was no way we could have saved him. You know that."

"Yeah, I know. I just wish we could have got to him sooner; maybe talked to him or something…"

"You can't save everyone Sam, and anyway, you saved my ass."

There was a pause and Dean looked tense, until Sam replied.

"Well, like I said, it didn't end so well!" Sam slapped Dean playfully on the arm.

"Hey! Good job we have company or I would _so_ have to kick your ass for that!"

"Don't mind me guys!"

"So anyway, I don't see why the YED would send me visions that would help me to save you. If anything, he should want you out of the way."

I was feeling increasingly left out so idly picked up the newspaper I had discarded earlier and flicked through it, taking a particular interest in the property section. Eventually,

I found myself back at the page with the article about me. Determined not to cry this time, I read it again. Somehow just seeing my mom and dad's names on the page made me feel a little closer to them. I desperately wanted to let them know I was okay – well, sort of okay – alive at any rate.

Bored, I decided to see if I could rinse out the soup from my jeans.

"Sam, are my jeans in your duffle bag?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so."

I wasted no time opening up his bag and rifling through til I found my jeans. I took them into the bathroom and started dabbing at the crusty patch where the soup had spilt and dried. That proved pretty ineffectual so I ran the patch under the hot tap and rubbed some soap into it. That got the area good and frothy so then I needed to rinse the suds out and ran the leg of the jeans under the tap again. By now there was a good deal of water splashed on the floor and all down my front. The sleeves of my top were ringing wet too and to make matters worse, most of the jeans were soaked despite my efforts to keep the damp patch contained. Cursing to myself, I put the plug in and filled the basin with hot water and plunged the jeans in roughly. That caused a cascade of water to heave over the side and all down my pant legs, puddling at my feet. "Goddammit!"

It was then, that I noticed Dean and Sam sniggering like schoolboys at the bathroom door.

"It's not funny!" I shouted at them and slammed the door shut in their faces. Simmering with anger and frustration I kneaded the jeans in the water until I thought the soap had been rinsed out and pulled the plug. Of course I had no way of drying them other than squeezing as much water out as I could and then I hung them over the shower screen. It didn't seem like I'd be wearing them any time soon and now I was standing in soaked sweat pants and a soggy sleeved top. I was not a happy bunny.

When I emerged from the bathroom, a sorry sight in my damp, oversized outfit, I glared at both brothers, daring them to laugh. Sam was silently heaving and avoiding eye contact, and Dean was doing his best to look sympathetic but clearly on the brink too. I went to my bed and slumped down on it, turning my back to them both.

After a while Dean came and sat on the side of my bed.

"Hey."

I ignored him.

"Come on Jenny, don't be like that. Talk to me."

"Look, here's a tee-shirt – it's clean – just a bit crumpled."

I looked up then and saw the plain black tee-shirt he was offering me. Given how uncomfortable the soaked sleeves of my top were, I decided a crumpled tee-shirt would be an improvement.

"Thanks Dean. Sorry for being such a brat."

"It's alright. This can't be easy. Tell you what, if you agree to wear a cap and sunglasses, we'll go out and get you some clothes that fit and then maybe hit a diner for lunch – how would that be?"

_How would that be? That would be fantastic!_

"Really? We can go out?"

"Yep! Sam, you coming with?"

"Actually I think I might head to the library and meet up with you guys for lunch. Say 12.30?"

I hurried off to the bathroom to change into the tee-shirt and clean up as best I could. When I came out, Dean had a Boston Red Sox cap in his hand.

"Red Sox? Really?"

"Somethin', _wrong_ with the Red Sox Jenny?"

"Well I'm more of a Yankees gal…but ya know, no problem. Red Sox it is!"

I wasn't impressed but pulled my hair up and jammed the cap on top. Then Dean handed me a pair of black sunglasses. They were way too big and immediately slid down my nose.

"Dean, I think the sunglasses are a mistake." Sam looked about ready to fold up on himself laughing again.

"God yeah. They look way better on me!" Dean held his hand out and I happily handed the glasses back to him.

And then we headed out! I literally bounced along beside Dean as we headed towards the car. I felt like a kid being taken to the fair I was _that_ happy to be out and, you know, the thought of getting some dry, clean, properly fitting clothes wasn't exactly upsetting me either.

We reached the car and I waited as Dean got in and leaned across to open the passenger door. I opened it and was angling to sit in.

"Uh, Jenny, you're in the back?"

Sam was right behind me and I backed into him as I got out.

He put hands on both of my shoulders to steady me. Wow! Giant hands!

"I'll be getting in the back now then." And I sheepishly opened the door and slid into the back seat.

It was a very short drive into town. There didn't seem to be much town to drive into.

Having parked up, we walked along what appeared to be the main road, lined on each side by stores selling everything from groceries to auto parts to farm machinery. There was a drug store, though not one I had heard of. A betting shop, a diner. No clothing stores so far. We passed an electrical store with TVs and…

"Holy crap!" Sam came to a dead halt on the sidewalk.

"Isn't that…?"

"That's the ….. thing….." My knees felt slightly wobbly.

"Dean, that's the thing that's after Jenny!"

"Yeah. But what the hell is it doing on tv?."


End file.
